This specification relates to operations performed in conjunction with media content rendering.
The Internet is widely used to distribute media content, including video, graphic, audio, and scripting data. Media content can be downloaded as a file, or streamed to a client computer, where a media player application can process and output the media content to a display device and, if applicable, one or more speakers. The media player application or an application including media player functionality, in some examples, can be a program written for a particular operating system (OS) on a computer platform or a “plug-in” based software that runs inside another program, such as a runtime environment, on a computer platform.
The rate at which media content is presented upon a user device can depend upon a number of factors, including timing information received within an audio track, a developer suggested frame rate, or a device refresh rate. If the media content is not locked to timing information such as an audio track, the actual frame rate can depend upon the processing rate of the user device or the current processor load. If the processor is too slow, or the processor has too many applications vying for processing time at once, the frame rate of particular media content rendered upon the user device can slow to a frame rate which is too slow for the user to properly experience. For example, the media content can appear to be stalled or choppy.